Advice On New, Poorly Cared For Ducks

Deja_view

Songster
8 Years
Mar 20, 2015
39
98
124
Pennsylvania, USA
TLDR: I went for six ducks, and came home with fourteen that are in not so great shape.

Hello everyone. I guess I'm posting to get some opinions and advice on some new ducks I just acquired today.

Background: A semi-local gentleman posted his entire flock as needing rehomed due to his own medical issues. He had photos of his birds, but I think they must have been outdated due to the difference between the photos and the actual birds. I believe this gentleman still has 30-50 ducks still on his property.

We met in a public location, which I very much understand for biosecurity and personal safety reasons. As such, I did not see the full picture of their living conditions. Fourteen ducks later and I can only assume they were not provided with access to adequate water: A few of them had blocked nostrils, all of them were filthy, and I believe all of them are suffering from wet feather.

Once home, we trimmed one wing's flight feathers on each before providing them with food and a bathtub.

They're all much cleaner now, though still fairly dirty. I still have to hand bathe them with Dawn to finish up the cleaning process.

The original plan was to put them in a modified dog run outdoors for their quarantine period. In light of the wet feather issue and the current temperatures, they're all currently drying and preening in our bathroom.

I will make a second post with some photos to see if you guys think anything else may be going on.

One photo shows a small male with some eye issues. Good reason to believe it is from poor hygiene, or something more sinister?

How do I tell whether or not they have mites in addition to wet feather?

Outside of improving their diet and hygiene, anything else I should be doing?

I have to locate an avian veterinarian, as so far the closest one is four hours away 🙄

Thank you in advance for anyone that has made it this far into my epic saga of a post.
 
So glad you were able to get as many as you did
When you do the dawn dish soap make sure to keep them from swimming for 48 hours
It’s ok if they use the water dish to flick water on themselves but need ti rebuild the oils
I would maybe give vitamins for a little bit
Nutridrench, poly vi sol infant meds without iron
Adding nutritional yeast to feed
For the eye
I use colloidal silver a drop in each eye 3 times a day
Others may have medications you can get over the counter for the eye
Can’t wait to see pictures of your 14 ducks
Any with walking issues ? If so grab durvet vitamin B compex ( 1 ml over a treat
Check all feet for sores ( bumble foot )
 
They look pretty young still any idea how old? Good advice from @New duck mommy 2021. As for parasites I’d think bathing them in dawn would take care of any external if they had any.
Congrats on taking the 14. I sure hope he can find good home for the rest. What breeds are they? Oh and terramycin eye ointment can help clear up eye problems. But hopefully having a deep buckets so they can keep their eyes and nares cleaned out will take care of it. Add some ACV to their drinking water 1 Tab per gallon is beneficial and will not sting at that strength. Lots of pics when you have time.
 
@New duck mommy 2021 Thank you for taking the time to reply!
We are a solid 24 hours into our no bathing ban. Luckily I have off work on the third day and will be able to provide some supervised bath time.
They currently have access to a waterer with probiotics and electrolytes. I will have to look into getting a vitamin supplement for them.
Surprisingly, no mobility issues. A few of them have nails that need trimmed, but no one with bumble foot.

@Miss Lydia Thank you, and I hope so as well.
They are all Call Ducks. He told me they were all hatched last spring. I woke up to two eggs this morning, so I assume at least 6 months old.
I have both terramycin ointment and ACV, so I can start using both.
 

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